Ingredients

3 lbs. (0.5kg) cherries (sour or sweet)

3 to 5 cups (600 to 1,000g) granulated sugar

1 6 oz. (170g) package dry fruit pectin

1/4 cup (59ml) lemon juice

Wash your cherries in running water. Remove all dirt from the surface. You don’t want dirt to mix in with the cherries after they are pitted.

Most people use sour cherries for cherry jam, because they are easy to sweeten, while remaining slightly tart.

If you use sweet cherries, reduce the amount of sugar you use

Use a chef’s knife to pit cherries on a cutting board. Place a cherry on the board. 

Chop the cherries or grind them in a food mill. The more you chop them, the easier the jam will be to spread.

Pour four cups of cherries into a large metal stockpot or metal Dutch oven. Put it on a burner and turn it to high heat.
Shake your package of powdered fruit pectin into the pot.
Add the lemon juice. Lemon juice contains extra pectin and adds flavor.

Stir the mixture. Bring it to a full boil. Turn it to medium heat
Stir in your sugar. Traditional cherry jam is sweet, so five cups of granulated sugar is added for four cups of cherries

Return the mixture to a boil. Let it boil for one minute. Remove it from heat